Overview%20of%20Electronic%20Lifecycle%20of%20USPTO%20Reclassification%20Projects

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Overview of Electronic Lifecycle of USPTO
Reclassification Projects

• United States Patent and Trademark Office
• Office of Patent Classification

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Reclassification Project Workflow

• From project scope to placing documents
• Business rules
• Reclass documentation
• Reports

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Where Do Reclassification Projects Come From?

• International Harmonization projects USPTO,
  EPO and JPO agree to reclassify specific areas
  simultaneously
• USPTO examination staff identifies areas where
  reclassification is needed to meet growth or
  classify emerging technology

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Electronic Reclassification Projects Components

• Classification data must be standardized to
  facilitate electronic storage and updating
• Business rules must accommodate the various roles
  and privileges for project members as well as the
  different project phases

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Initial Classification ScheduleClassification
Definition Development

• The Administrator will create the
  reclassification project using subclasses,
  patents, TPCs, or a combination thereof
• The Administrator will assign the roles to the
  requested project members

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Initial Classification ScheduleClassification
Definition Development

• The Project Leader can establish multiple working
  schedules to test various retrieval strategies
• Business Rules are enforced within each working
  schedule as well as between multiple working
  schedules in a reclassification project

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Initial Classification Schedule/Classification
Definition Development (Continued)

• What is required from a contractor?
• Review the scope
• Create a draft schedule
• Get input/direction from USPTO personnel on
  draft schedule
• Finalize Draft initial schedule and definition
  development

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CDS Desktop electronic reclassification tool
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Incorporation of workflow
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CDS Desktop provides functionality for creating
classification schedule, definitions, and patent
placement
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Reclassification Project Updates

• The initial working schedule includes temporary
  subclasses for weekly issues, MTR, and updates
  emanating from recently completed
  reclassification projects
• These documents must be moved into appropriate
  subclasses prior to the project being promoted to
  the Tentative MoC

12
Schedule Testing

• The number of documents to be tested in the new
  draft schedule is dependent on where the project
  originated. If the project is a result of an
  international harmonization project, then 10 of
  documents are placed in the new schedule
• This project originated in the USPTO thus about
  10 are tested (numbers may vary slightly from US
  project to US Project)
• Adjust schedule and definitions as appropriate --
  if a project originates from an international
  harmonization project, the contractor must
  compare the schedule with the EPO and JPO
  schedules

13
Patent Document Placement

• CDS Desktop provides functionality for passing a
  listing of project patents to the EAST retrieval
  AIS tool
• Project personnel may use drag drop
  functionality, or alternatively use the PCI form
  or the Patent Grid to reclassify the patents
  belonging to the reclassification project

14
Reclassification Project Validation

• Project patents in the temporary subclasses for
  weekly issues, MTR, and updates emanating from
  recently completed reclassification projects must
  be moved into appropriate subclasses prior to the
  project being promoted to the Tentative MoC
• The Administrator validates the project patents,
  as well as linkages in the classification
  definitions, prior to promoting from the TMoC to
  the MoC
• Many of the components of the Class Order are
  exported directly from the CDS Desktop database

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Promotion to Production

• Following the approval of the classification
  schedule and placement of the majority of patent
  documents into the new subclasses, the project is
  promoted to the Tentative MoC (TMoC)
• The Administrator assigns final numbers prior
  to promoting to the TMoC
• Classification definitions outside the scope of
  the project can be edited as needed to update
  existing linkages as well as create new linkages
  the TMoC provides access to version control
  functionality for classification definitions
• Changing the project scope requires backing out
  of the TMoC

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Publication of reclassification project
information

• Following the promotion of the electronic
  reclassification project, the necessary data is
  exported from the CDS Desktop AIS tool for
  creation of the Classification Order
• The issuance of the Classification Order
  coincides with the official availability of the
  data in USPTO search systems

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Reclassification Project Documentation

• This phase takes the draft schedule and develops
  it into a comprehensive final classification
  containing
• Manual of Classification changes
• Changes to US-IPC Concordance
• Changes to Index to US Classification system
• List of Classification Change Sheets
• Working Number-Final Number Translation Lists
• Final Number-Working Number Translation Lists

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Reclassification reports
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USPC-to-IPC Reverse Concordance

• Created by inverting the data in the
  USPC-to-IPC concordance -- useful as an entry
  point into the USPC system